Konstantin Fyodorovich Chelpan (russian: Константин Фёдорович Челпан) (27 May 1899 – 10 March 1938) was a prominent Soviet engineer of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

background. Head of the Engineering Design Bureau of the

Kharkiv Locomotive Factory The Malyshev Factory ( uk , Завод імені В.О. Малишева, translit=Zavod imeni V.O. Malysheva; abbreviated ), formerly the Kharkov Locomotive Factory (, ), is a state-owned manufacturer of heavy equipment in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It ...

, chief designer of the

T-34 tank The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...

engine. Awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

, he was politically repressed and executed under a mass persecution ordered by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

, but politically rehabilitated after death.

Early life and education

Born on 27 May 1899 in Cherdakly,

Yekaterinoslav Governorate The Yekaterinoslav Governorate (russian: Екатеринославская губерния, Yekaterinoslavskaya guberniya; uk, Катеринославська губернія, translit=Katerynoslavska huberniia) or Government of Yekaterinos ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now Kremenivka,

Donetsk Oblast The Donetsk Oblast ( ukr, Донецька область, Donetska oblast, ), also referred to as Donechchyna ( ukr, Донеччина, links=no), is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 mill ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

), to Fyodor Myhailovich Chelpan and Elizaveta Khalangot. Both parents were Greeks. After graduating from Mariupol

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

in 1919, took part in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. In 1924 graduated with honors from Kharkiv Technological Institute with a Major in Internal Combustion Engines.

Career

From 1924 to 1937 Chelpan worked at the

as a Designer, Head of the Diesel Department, Lead Designer, and Head of the Engineering Design Bureau. In 1928–1929 had practical training in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. Konstantin Chelpan was the head designer of the famous

diesel engine

V-2 The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develope ...

, for which he was awarded the

. The engine consisted of lightweight aluminum alloy. From 1927 he was a senior lecturer at Kharkiv Technological Institute.

Arrest and death

Konstantin Chelpan was arrested on 15 December 1937 during the first days of the

Greek Operation of NKVD The Greek Operation (russian: Греческая Операция, translit=Grecheskaya Operatsiya; uk, Грецька Операція, translit=Hretska Operatsiia; gr, Ελληνική επιχείρηση) was an organised mass persecution o ...

. He was charged with leading a Greek nationalist counter-revolutionary organization, as well as conspiring to sabotage the

. After being interrogated and tortured he confessed to being a spy. On 4 February 1938 he was sentenced to

execution by shooting Execution by shooting is a method of capital punishment in which a person is shot to death by one or more firearms. It is the most common method of execution worldwide, used in about 70 countries, with execution by firing squad being one particula ...

. The sentence was carried out in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine. and covered up. In a few years his wife received a death certificate, indicating that Konstantin Chelpan died on 16 May 1942 from

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

. On 6 August 1956 Konstantin Chelpan was rehabilitated by the

Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union (Russian: Военная коллегия Верховного суда СССР, ''Voennaya kollegiya Verkhovnogo suda SSSR'') was created in 1924 by the Supreme Court of the Sovie ...

. However only in 1988 was his true cause of death revealed.

Commemoration

* In 1994 one of the streets in the village of Cherdakly was named after Konstantin Chelpan. * In 2000 a book entitled ''Life story of famous Ukrainian Greeks. The case of Konstantin Chelpan'' by G. Zakharova was published. * In 2001 a

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

was placed on the house, where Konstantin Chelpan had spent his last years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelpan, Konstantin 1899 births 1938 deaths People from Donetsk Oblast Ukrainian Greeks Recipients of the Order of Lenin Soviet engineers 20th-century Russian engineers Soviet inventors 20th-century Russian scientists Great Purge victims from Ukraine Greek people executed by the Soviet Union Ukrainian people of Greek descent Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute alumni Soviet people of Greek descent Soviet rehabilitations People of the Russian Civil War